Variety: DirecTV Ditches Dish Deal

Story from Variety:

The U.S.’s two satellite TV providers aren’t getting hitched anymore, at least anytime soon.

DirecTV on Thursday formally announced that it was nixing the agreement with EchoStar to buy Dish Network. The deal is being terminated effective as of 11:59 p.m. ET on Nov. 22, DirecTV said.

DirecTV’s official termination of the agreement follows Dish DBS bondholders’ rejection of the proposed exchange debt offer terms issued by EchoStar, which was a condition of DirecTV’s obligations to acquire Dish. On Nov. 12, Dish’s creditors turned down the offer to exchange their debt for new debt in the merged DirecTV-Dish at a discounted rate (under which they would have seen a $1.5 billion loss on $8.9 billion worth of bonds).

On Sept. 30, DirecTV and EchoStar announced the deal under which DirecTV was to buy rival Dish and its Sling TV business. That would have created the largest U.S. provider in the declining pay-TV industry with around 18 million customers. Under the terms, DirecTV was to assume $9.75 billion of debt associated with Dish and pay $1 in cash. Effectively, EchoStar was giving away its shrinking satellite and streaming TV business in order to get rid of a huge chunk of debt to focus on building out a wireless services play.

“While we believed a combination of DirecTV and Dish would have benefitted all stakeholders, we have terminated the transaction because the proposed Exchange Terms were necessary to protect DirecTV’s balance sheet and our operational flexibility,” DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow said in a statement.

Morrow continued: “DirecTV will advance our mission to aggregate, curate, and distribute content tailored to customers’ interests by pursuing innovative products and providing customers with additional choice, flexibility, and control. We are well positioned for the future with a strong balance sheet and support from our long-term partner TPG.”

An EchoStar rep said the company “respect[s]” DirecTV’s decision to call off the acquisition deal.

''DirecTV notified us that they will terminate the purchase agreement to acquire the Dish video business at 11:59 p.m. ET on November 22,” EchoStar spokesperson Ted Wietecha said in an emailed statement. “We respect their decision and will continue to deliver the excellent customer experience our pay-TV brands are known for. As mentioned on our recent earnings call, we have a more robust foundation to operate and grow EchoStar’s business, independent of this agreement.” Wietecha added that last week EchoStar repaid its November debt maturity with funds received in September and also received an additional $5.6 billion through spectrum secured notes and equity issuances.

DirecTV said it will “continue to invest in next-generation streaming platforms and revolutionize the industry through new packaging options while integrating content from live TV alongside direct-to-consumer services.”

The termination of the Dish acquisition does not affect TPG’s acquisition of the remaining 70% stake in DirecTV from AT&T for $7.6 billion. That transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025.

DirecTV launched in 1994 and Dish followed in 1996, and the two satellite TV companies provided robust competition to incumbent cable TV operators. But in the past decade, both have seen their subscribers rolls shrink by the millions (as has traditional cable TV) with streaming fueling a wave of “cord-cutting.” DirecTV and Dish have launched internet-delivered TV packages, but those have not offset losses on the satellite side.